What Caught My Eye Today

Swine Flu - According to the World Health Organization, the swine flu virus has reached 160 countries and could infect two billion people within the next two years. For those of you keeping count, that's almost one in three people. Crickey. The virus is thought to have killed almost 800 people in recent months. I've been mocking the mortality rate of this virus for several weeks. 800 out of 2 billion doesn't even come close to a statistical anomaly. What I've left out, is the fact that influenza viruses tend to mutate and do so rather rapidly. So while this particular strain may not be particularly lethal just yet, it could be. The majority of cases appear to be occurring in young people, around the ages of 12 to 17, although some reports suggest it is mainly older people who have required hospital treatment. The organization also said there was accumulating evidence suggesting pregnant women are at higher risk of more severe disease, but "certainly has no recommendations on whether women should try to have children now". If the day ever comes that the WHO contemplates making such a recommendation, I pity the fool who has to deliver that announcement to the world.

Iran - I try to keep an open mind about most things especially when it comes to politics and religion. These tend to be rather sensitive subjects that reflect cultural beliefs that I do not fully understand or appreciate. That being said when it comes to the Iranian political leadership I am quickly coming to the conclusion that the guys in charge are a few cards short of a full deck. Iran's top authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to dismiss a senior official who had said Iran was friendly with everyone, even the people of its sworn foe Israel. Khamenei apparently is not one to mince his words. "The appointment of ... Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as vice president is against your interest and the interests of the government and will cause division among your supporters." the Ayatollah said."It is necessary to announce the cancellation of this appointment." See what I mean. Analysts have said that the decision by Ahmadinejad to appoint Mashaie, to whom he is related by marriage, suggested the president had only a small entourage of people he trusted. Ahmadinejad was re-elected in a presidential vote which stirred the largest display of internal unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite. On the off chance that you have not been following the Iranian political scene--I'm sure there are one or two of you out there--let me break it down for you. Back in June, Ahmadinejad was proclaimed the victor of a rather dubious presidential election by the aforementioned Ayatollah. This pretty much validated that Ahmadinejad was the Ayatollah's anointed one--and how convenient was it that the electorate agreed with him; even if they didn't know they did. One would assume that this would be the end of the story, but clearly not. Ahmadinejad in his infinite wisdom picks as his first vice president (apparently there are a whole bunch of vice president) a dude that no one, including the Ayatollah, likes. Given that the Ayatollah basically handed the presidency to Ahmadinejad, you would think that the dude would pick someone a bit more palatable for such a prestigious post. Of course, what I really want to know is what the Supreme Leader of Iran saw in this whack job in the first place.

Nepal - I'm not sure why, but Nepal is just a hotbed of news this week. A remote region of Nepal is hoping to improve local sanitation by asking everyone who applies for a citizenship card or passport whether they have a toilet at home. They say there is a lack of awareness of the health risks related to open defecation, and are hoping the proposed scheme will help to eradicate the practice. Maybe it is a cultural thing. What sort of awareness is the government looking for? People are taking dumps in the middle of the street. Is that not obvious enough? The proposal comes as Nepal is struggling to deal with a diarrhea outbreak that has reportedly killed around 150 people in a remote western region. Disease outbreaks are common during the monsoon, when floods mean water sources can easily become contaminated. The government has promised to eradicate open defecation by 2017, but officials say they are well behind schedule on the building of new toilets. It's stories like this that remind you no matter how bad things might seem, they are most assuredly worse someplace else. Though in the case of the Nepalese people, I'm not sure I can think of a "someplace else" that tops their predicament.

Cricket - I think I'm starting to get the hang of this sport (yeah, right). The third test of the bi-annual tournament between the national teams of England and Australia got underway yesterday. I'm pretty sure that the Aussies are leading, which is certainly good news for them after the English won the second test. At any rate, I have plenty of more time to pick up on the nuances of the sport. As close as I can figure, they are contesting one test a week. And seeing as this tournament consists of 5 tests, I've got two more weeks. Yeah baby.

Cycling - Technically, the Tour de France has two more stages left, but the winner was effectively decided yesterday. Astana team leader, Alberto Cantador won the individual time trial (that was actually a rather big surprise) and increased his overall lead to 4 minutes 11 seconds over his closest rival, Luxembourg rider, Andy Schleck. Unless he falls off a mountain or gets hit by truck, the yellow jersey is basically his. Lance Armstrong was fourth going into the time trial and managed to make up enough time on one of his rivals, Frank Schleck (Andy's older brother) to climb back to third place overall, 5 minutes 25 seconds behind Contador. Today's stage was supposed to be rather uneventful, but was far from it. First of all, UK rider Mark Cavendish won for a fifth time becoming the UK's winningest Tour de France stage winner of all time. Second, while his chances for winning the Tour are all be gone, Armstrong showed that he's still probably the smartest rider as he noticed that the final sprint would likely (and in fact did) result in a time gap, and was the only general classification contender to finish in the same time as Cavendish--all the other lead riders lost 4 seconds to Armstrong. In the giant scheme of things, the standings did not change, but awareness of the race going on around him, reminding everyone why Armstrong, not Contador, is still the big dog.